False Humans Hand In Hand
by Cyan Sung-Sun
Summary: Placed within ancient history what course of actions will A2 take? Can she change a future millennia ahead of where she is right now? Can she prevail against history's greatest champions? [Discontinued]
1. Chapter One

A new story is born. A _thing_ placed itself within the circle, chanting the words like poetry. Instantly, even if the commands are broken off in the middle of the sentence _it_ had already changed its plans, and it would take too much effort now that the un-being had begun speaking the words like a lullaby.

The Holy Grail began to summon the Servant most suited for the _thing_ that chanted. The compatibility of the two was perfect. Not only did the girl possess a compatibility with this Servant but there was a regent.

Her entire body was the summoning regent. Yes, it was only natural that these two would be placed together.

The summoning ritual was preceding uninterrupted. So the _thing_ would meet yet another of it's kind that was just as disposable as it and its mother.

One master was replaced with another. The talentless trash being tossed aside to make way for a better one. Servants had to be changed. But all of it was for the best.

Only one puzzle remained that had yet to be answered. How did this thing, this artificial being ever grow the capacity to intrude on this competition when it had no command seals to call its own? As the Grail bestowed said seals onto her along with its servant the Grail understood.

Accursed Wishcraft. Damnable third magic.

It was an achievement indeed. That in the middle of the night, with the blue moon hanging over her that Illyasviel Von Einzbern just so happened to don the first prototype of the Dress Of Heaven. Built and made from the sacrifice of some nameless homunculus. This dress, along with the sheet of paper that she had found by their parents bedside had altered many things beyond imagination.

The fifth Holy Grail War was altered many times. A stark contrast to the Grail Wars that came before it. But now that had changed.

As all these events played out the celestial satellite devoted itself to watching these events.

The Moon Cell saw it all. The actions of those who were made to be disposable would split reality apart. And no one would realise it. No one would ever truly comprehend the impact that was to be created from this one lone summoning. Not even A2, who was most effected by this. The Moon Cell would come to alter a future that was millenniums ahead of the current year.

Homunculus and Android have succeeded in their missions far ahead of schedule. And no one would ever notice how many untold lives were saved by one girl simply acting out what she thought was naughty, mischievous behaviour. It was a blessing that was measured in numbers beyond mankind, beyond even Archimedes. Only the Moon Cell could define what the odds of this happening were.

It was a miracle that she mistakenly brought the ancient looking sheet of paper and believed it to be a lullaby. It was a peculiar happenstance that the paper was kept as a memento from when the three families joined together to make the Holy Grail. It was a happy mistake that Illyasviel Von Einzbern thought that her parents were following some fun festival traditions.

It was two and two equaling to four to realise that the paper and the strange, exotically painted circle within the Einzbern mansion were connected.

It was the greatest mistake that Illya had walked out with nothing much to wear, causing her to seek out the prototype of the dress of heaven.

It was destiny then, that a new future be written. Was it Aliyah's will that took care of the rest of the ritual? Or was it destiny that emboldened the power of the dress of heaven?

It was an innocent heart, mind and soul that saved countless others. It was with a sweet child's voice singing its fake lullaby that the earth did weep. It was to this beautiful sound that humanity raised its arms in adulation.

It was with this sound that love was secured.

The sounds of this little girl singing was the sound of a saviour of mankind.

It was the second coming of Jesus. The reappearance of The Saviour. When the son of God reformed itself would not quite be known. Was it his guiding hand that arranged events to be this way? Or was it his voice or knowledge that bade her sing? How was unknown. But with Jesus's swift second coming, untold amount of things occurred.

Humanity would live on. But no one would be able to wonder if it was a child who saved them, or if it was the promised religious figure.

Swift and melodious was the End of the Unknown.

"Woah..." Illyasviel murmured. To the wide eyed little child this spectacle was as strange as it was spectacular. Was daddy's musical sheet supposed to do this? Illya gasped at a realization she just had. Was this going to give her a "Umm..." What are daddy's called again?

"Ah! A husband! That's what they're called!" She banged her fist against her palm and smiled as brightly as was possible. She knew the myth with storks were nonsense! Only a gullible kid would think those were real! Those were so last century.

So did you summon a husband or wife then? Yes! That had to be it! She could already see a figure forming from the light.

"Wait a minute..." How were husbands named? "Wait...a...minute..." Wasn't this daddy's script? If she used something made by a man to get a parent, and thus a beautiful baby girl, then was she going to get a mummy instead?

"Wait...a..." Was that even okay? Wait a minute was she breaking the law?! Her breath started to pick up rather rapidly as the figure began to look less like her farther. "OH GOD! Have I done something illegal?! I-I-I'm not supposed to break the rules..." She mewled the last part out rather pathetically. She did a naughty thing. She had never done that before because she was told to never break the rules so she could be a good girl. So she never broke them.

What was going to happen? She hunched over and almost came to tears before remembering that she was also told to carry herself with pride by her more mean family members. And daddy and mummy told her that family was always right. As it is she started to hate the dimming of the room and this stupid dress with its stupid tacky rings and this dumb big house for not having and furry, warm shoes handy.

"Ugghhhh." She groaned when she finally looked up and beheld the figure that was before her. Yep. That was a face of a mother. Or the face of a woman as mummy sometimes told her. Apparently not every woman was not a mother or something ridiculous like that?

But as she looked at this figure she had to grudgingly concede that there was further proof to that. "Hmm..." She started biting on her thumb before finally wondering if she was missing something. How could you summon a mummy with no daughter.

As she started to bite on her nail with a bit more force she pieced it together. She rocketed up on her feet and pointed at the "woman" who was finally formed at last and was looking stupefied.

"You're a man!" Of course "she" was. There were these things called appearances! Of course!

The man turned to look at her and although he looked pretty, he was also quite menacing. But after a few seconds of staring at him he began to look heroic to Illya's innocent little mind. She began imagining him holding her like a princess with a twinkle in her eye.

But her dreams were just a little dashed when her man began speaking with a VERY unmanly voice. "What the hell are you going on about?"

"Huh? Daddy doesn't sound like that? My husband is supposed to sound manly!" Was daddy just special or was mine? "Oh right, I don't know your name! I-I can't believe I don't know my own husbands name! Uh, please tell me!" Illya quickly did one of those fancy bows that she seen some people do. Bowing with her hands on her knees was supposed to be a fancy thing right?

He was silent for a while, only speaking once a handful of seconds had passed. "I'm A2 kid." He spoke quietly.

Illya looked up at that. "Eh? But that...doesn't seem like a mans name...or a woman's?"

Her hero stared at her for a second. "Its an androids."

"Eh? And-er-roid? What is that?"

He sighed and closed his pretty eyes. Know that she got a closer look at his face he began to resemble one of her dolls. Pretty and perfect. With long hair and a beautiful face. Yeah...he looked like one of her barbie dolls! The pretty eyelashes and perfect everything was so dreamy!

"To think this is a human. Now I'm kinda regretting getting off of the factory at all." He sighed again. "Look it doesn't matter. Just stop calling me a man alright, I'm a woman can't you tell? Or are you just being bratty on purpose?"

"A-a-a woman?! Then...then I really did do a bad thing! Oh no..." Illya began curling up into herself.

"Ugh, I can't believe I got summoned by some kid." She looked around hoping to see someone else and sighed when she found no one else. "Great. Do you even know what you've gotten yourself into kid?"

Above her shoulder something rose up into the air. It was instantly cute in Illya's little mind. The cute little arms and hands on this cute little pristine white box made stars twinkle in her eyes.

"Negative. Information provided by the Holy Grail indicates-"

"Shut up. I know that already."

"Pod 042 has serious concerns if unit A2 is posing rhetorical questions to a seven year old lifeform."

"Shut. Up!"

"Negative."

A2 growled and looked around the room. "What's this?"

"Judging by the structure of this room and the iconography along with the benches that are large enough to classify as pews, it is likely that this is a room dedicated to religious practices. However, it was also used to summon unit A2 and Tactical Support Unit Pod 042, indicating that it may also have some hidden purpose."

A2 sighed. "Looks like you've still got a ways to go before being good huh? Well whatever."

She turned back to look at her..."Master" again. "You really don't know what you've gotten yourself into huh? Ah well..." She deliberated on what to do. Telling a kid she could die was pretty stupid. Telling someone that they're not in danger was also pretty dumb too.

She began speaking again, more slower this time. "Look kid, you're in pretty big danger you know that?"

"W-what do you mean? Does something really bad happen when a girl summons a wife?"

"A wife?! What the hell were you-no." She heaved yet another disappointed sigh at this whole situation. "I'm not telling you how its done. Look you're in real trouble kid, like, you're gonna get hurt and...Pod? What's she doing?"

"Moisture within the eyes are indicative that crying is eminent. Theory: The cause is likely due to Illyasviel Von Einzbern misinterpreting the last sentence that was spoken by A2."

Just as A2 was about to get a word in a loud sniffle interrupted her. Illya finally spoke again. "You mean mum and dad aren't disappointed in me Pod?"

A2 rushed to get a word in but couldn't manage it before Pod said something stupid.

"Unknown."

"Oh godammit Pod!"

Illya's parents first introduction to her Servant was not a good one.


	2. Chapter Two

**Authors Note: To be frank I rushed this out. Tell me if it's badly done and i'll fix it by around the same time I upload Chapter 3. Btw, are you all Fate people? I'm oddly curious as to what side of the fandom allowed you to read this story.**

Kiritsugu Emiya inspected the woman across from him. For a certain meaning of the word "woman." He knew that most of her legend was buried far into the future. When he let her knew just who Illya was the daughter of she became a bit more docile compared to her aggressive attitude.

Enough so that he knew everything he needed to when he questioned her. The importance of the "Tactical Support Unit" was telling enough of how advanced the future became. Infinite bullets, missiles, and a deadly laser along with even more features had him widening his eyes. For all that to somehow be stored in a box that not only floated but gave advice and could even carry a humanoid made of wires and metals was insane.

To an outside observer it might have looked like she had almost ousted his position as a Master in the Holy Grail War. But the fact that they already got Avalon and that the Master they would have to make due with was an inexperienced child of his made them proceed.

But he wasn't sure how to use this woman. There was too much he didn't know about her, didn't know her legend and how she reacted to her trials. She was a loner he could tell. But that was it. She _did_ have a purpose of some sort but he couldn't figure out what. He hadn't questioned her on her life story yet.

All he knew was that this woman was an excellent Servant. Pod had given a report about her basic stats in an easy to understand way. Rated on an alphabetical scale with plus modifiers. He had no doubt that Pod could also analyze other enemy Servants and give a similar rundown.

The stats of the Servant in front of him were: A in strength, with the potential to go to EX if multiple criteria were reached. A in Agility, C in Endurance, D in luck, and an EX in Noble Phantasms.

The plus modifier was supposed to be temporary, but as it was told to him the only stat that followed that rule was strength.

Mad Enhancement only affected strength. She didn't get any faster. She'd only get slower if her Master couldn't fuel her Mana requirement.

There were seven Servants, each of them being placed in one of seven classes. Berserker, something this A2 was, was typically regarded as the worst ones to possess.

Large drains of Od and an insane berserker that could even ignore command seals and were only good for strength since they forgot their sword skills. A2 took the Od drainage to the extreme. And Od was what humans produced on their own.

He wasn't happy to find out his daughter was powering what was essentially a walking power plant. Even worse was what exactly his daughters Od went towards.

An EX Noble Phantasm self-destruct technique.

And all anyone had left to show for it was a measly D rank in Mana.

It was not a complete failure however. She had another EX Noble Phantasm technique. But that was tucked away in her body, and couldn't be used offensively. There was more but he'd have to pull the sheet out again once he had spare time.

The bare bones of it was that Illya had an extremely fast moving and hard hitting Servant on her hands that actually remembered techniques and maneuvers.

What he didn't know was how he was going to proceed in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War.

Masters must act as an anchor to their Servant. They do this by providing what they need through Magical Paths. The link between Servant and Master, a link that also allowed for either of them to see the others past through their dreams.

Nobody sent their Servant in another country to fight the war and stay behind for that reason. The longer those Magical Paths had to travel the more consequences there were.

So every plan he had for Fuyuki wasn't applicable anymore. They were all plans that he felt comfortable performing with his current set pieces. Now Illya was a piece he had to protect.

He also had no choice in the matter. Illya must come. It was something that had to be done, mostly because the Church wouldn't have it. They wouldn't have any sympathy over Illya's age nor feelings. They'd drag her to the conflict one way or another, and if things got dragged on for long enough then the Mage's Association would get involved.

She couldn't stay here, and he couldn't pick out a good enough guard for her.

Not if things were like they were. Now it was a bit different. Now he had a safety net arranged for her. The Einzbern's specialized in alchemy, but they also had the bases covered in a mansion in Fuyuki. Enough so he could take advantage of Berserker and not have to worry over Illya.

"I told her to only use her command seals to summon you to her side." She remained silent, staring at him. He took the time to examine her once again.

Long white hair, like his wife, which was symbolic since both people weren't "technically" human. A2 however came with an odd set of clothes. Thick black gloves, with the forearm being reinforced with another layer of clothing that seemed to sport Celtic patterns. A shirt that placed black fur around the neck and had a piece of leather fastened to her breast.

Nier-NEAR ankle high heels along with white pants or jeans, he wasn't up to date with fashions. But he knew the black or dark blue fur around her ankles was odd. Along with the chains around her lower half. He didn't know why she wore the chains. They were impractical, she couldn't use them as a defensive or offensive weapon, and it was possible to wrap your fist around one too.

If she wasn't a dual wielding Berserker he would have ordered them removed.

He looked over her shoulder for a few seconds as the silence went on. A white hilt and tassel poked out over her shoulder. The other weapon had its handle poking out below that.

Virtuous Contract and Beastbane. Two high tier Noble Phantasms that she possessed. She had a lot more than just two. Twenty or so?

For human technology to make weapons that became Noble Phantasms wasn't something he ever expected to happen. Combat bracers, spears, great swords and regular swords were what she possessed. And her combat prowess with all of them made her extremely valuable. Although some of them seemed a little ancient.

Beastbane was one of the older looking ones, but no one had heard of it, so it must have been constructed in the far feature.

The Iron Pipe alluded him however. He never expected to capitalise an iron pipe but when you turn an iron pipe into a Noble Phantasm then you have to do it.

He still didn't understand what kind of smith could have the patience or the boredom to waste once in a lifetime materials on making an Iron Pipe into a Noble Phantasm but it happened.

Silence passed for a few seconds. "Query: A Noble Phantasm has been detected within the hollowed out scabbard. Can we assume that you had intended to summon another Servant?"

He stared at the Pod for a second before turning back to her. "That's right. Illya wasn't supposed to get involved."

The Pod spoke again using its arms to gesture. "Proposal: Kiritsugu Emiya should use the Noble Phantasm to summon its original user. The scabbard alone gives off significant energy, and using it in the ritual would also bring in the sword that went with the scabbard."

Kiritsugu didn't move his gaze, focusing only on A2's face and body posture. Finally she replied. "What? Don't look at me. I'm not the one talking to you."

"It's you that I'm interested in." He didn't blink or turn away. "What are you going to do if you win the Holy Grail?"

She remained silent. For her that was the golden question wasn't it?

A2 had probably finished off every machine she came across with that stunt Pod had her pull against the network. She fought and won against all who came to challenge her. A future written millennia ahead of where she was right now was the only thing she was interested in.

But she'd erase herself. No, that didn't really matter. What mattered was getting it right. In the future nothing lived on Earth anymore. Nothing worth mentioning anyway.

How'd she stop that? Wish aliens out of existence? Seemed simple enough. Was the only choice she really had since she had such a huge margin to screw up if she picked any other way of doing it. But she had to reply to this guy. No one would believe her if she spoke the truth. She just had to win this stupid little war and kill the future.

"Proposal: Unit A2 should-"

"Shut. Up." She couldn't let Emiya figure it out. It'd just bring some unneeded drama and waste time. "And as for you Emiya you can calm down. Its not like I'm gonna wish for mass murder or something stupid." She waited for a beat before reconsidering and extending an olive branch so she could get shit done already. "Look, long story short is that the future goes to shit okay? I'm not gonna screw anything up fixing that am I?"

Kiritsugu stared back at her. He didn't bring up that only one can win, he didn't tell her she'd have to work with someone only to fight her later on. She knew that already because of the Holy Grail.

She knew that she might not have much of a chance. Not if Illya took his side.

He kept his quiet, but there really wasn't much to debilitate over. The Einzbern family wouldn't let it slide if he had Berserker killed now.

Instead he stood up and walked back to the church in the Einzbern manor. As he walked he thought back on when he and Iris came into the church.

The first thing he noticed when he woke up was the missing sheet. And sweet Illya wasn't stupid. She had peeked in on them when they had constructed the summoning ritual.

It was a long night spent easing Iris's worries and gently telling exactly what Illya had gotten herself caught up in. It wasn't easy since Iri panicked.

He hated it when his wife panicked. It made him feel like a failure. And that panic had a way of spreading to the entire family. Illya wanting to cling to both of them and Iri trying to be gentle but firm.

Hm. This war was already taking a lot from him. But his dream, the wish that he's gave his whole life towards was worth it. Whatever A2's wish was his was more important.

Peace for the world benefited both the android and him. If it was a technological issue or some sort of disaster then his wish would solve it. Besides...she had a lot of tries since she was somehow summoned so far before her own time.

It was the future fighting against the present. He recognised something similar, something that could compare A2 and him. Both of them pushed their bodies as hard as they could to achieve what they wanted.

As he walked away he pulled out the sheet of paper that Pod printed out for him.

Strength: A - EX

Agility: A

Endurance: C

Mana: D

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: EX

He turned his eyes and ignored multiple trivial details like date of production, serial codes and other bits of data and focused on some of her skills.

Black Box: An EX self-destruct Noble Phantasm. It's range is measured in city blocks and will erase everything inside. A2 included.

This is why he wasn't too happy about Illya of all people providing for A2's needs. He turned to the next one.

Pod: A rank C supportive Noble Phantasm that's capable of using other minor Noble Phantasms. Capable of analyzing the status and capabilities of Heroic Spirits and humans.

Wretched Weaponry: An EX Noble Phantasm contained within A2's body. The Noble Phantasm allows A2 to remember and record everything that she experiences in the Holy Grail War, allowing her to make use of such data for future Grail Wars. The main benefit to this Noble Phantasm is the Plug-in Chips many benefits.

Madness Enhancement: B. A2's Madness Enhancement must be turned on by A2. A process which takes two seconds. Upon doing so her damage output is dramatically increased at the cost of constantly draining vitality and receiving more damage. A2 suffers no mental deficiencies and is still capable of making sound judgements.

He tucked the paper back into his shirt and opened the doors to the church. He had glossed over the sheet but he know she had something that took away the danger of class skills life taking ability. He knew it was somewhere under the miles of paragraphs that constituted the Wretched Weaponry "summary" but he didn't really have the time to bother with that right now.


	3. Chapter Three

The conclusion was reached. Far beyond Earth rested the Moon, ever watching. It had reached the worst case scenario.

A prediction made from observing this new Servant and comparing it against the rate of progress towards what humans called the singularity whilst examining the Noble Phantasms.

Meteorites and foreign metals that Earth did not possess were infused with A2's weapons.

An Alien Manifestation had invaded Earth in the distant future. Nothing like the Type celestial bodies.

Everything proceeded as normal. The unconscious will of humanity had already made its move.

A2 would not have a future anymore.

A2 did not have a future anymore.

Everything proceeded as desired.

"So...It's like a competition dad? But why would we do that? My Servant is way better than your Servant!" Illya's cheeky little smile beamed up at her mother and farther.

Kiritsugu meanwhile was left grasping for straws. How did he get A2 to fight the king of knights? It wasn't that he didn't know that A2 had much better stats in Strength and Agility, it was because he was interested in testing Pod.

The king of knights, who was a woman for some reason, had hidden Excalibur in the wind.

A good advantage, made the blades length impossible to discern. The only thing he could think of that might unravel Excalibur's exact length was Pod.

Getting a gauge for how effective it was as a support unit was important. Did it formulate plans? Did it identify weaknesses or quirks? Those were things he had to find out.

"Heh heh heh. Are you sure about that? Come, read the sheets with your mother and farther again. And no complaints, after all you have trouble sitting down and doing homework. So am I right in saying you haven't read it?" He said it all with a smile. She had the sort of childish conviction that hers were better simply because she had them.

"Well...maybe?" Her shy smile and the arms clasped behind her back made him smile once again. Illya and Iri...they made him happy. A man like him didn't deserve such happiness, but he shelved his moments of self flagellation for another time.

"Heh, well its good that you're honest. Come now, Illya." Saying that he brought her up high and onto his shoulders. Her favorite place apart from Iri's loving embrace.

"Woah! Hehe, the worlds so different from up here, papa!" She held her head in his hands and clung on somewhat tightly.

"Heh, well I'm glad you like it so much, Illya." He tried not to think about how she would never really get the right growth as other people, he tried not to think about-

Suddenly darkness had covered his vision. But he wasn't scared for a moment.

"Hehe." Illya's laughter rang across the snowscape as she covered her farther eyes with her tiny palms. Her farther smiled and laughed too. After all, he was going to amaze her by traversing the way to their room without having to see.

It was a close one admittedly. Having to avoid a handful of maids in the corridors and opening some of the doors became a little tricky, but he managed it without banging Illya's legs into anything.

"Well Illya here we are. Our room."

She lifted his palms and wore the most amazed smile on her face. He couldn't see it but there was something in her voice and the flailing arms that convinced him of it. "Woah! How did you do all that daddy? You even knew the room we were in!" He lifted her off of his shoulders and set her down.

He laughed when she hugged him the moment he set her on the ground. He didn't pay attention to Saber's smile or A2's passive expression. He just focused on paying attention to his daughter again.

"Kiritsugu? Oh, Illya! How's my family doing?" Irisviel came in from the bedroom. Smiling and showing her affection to her family. It was something in the air, some strange sort of empathy that you could feel. Seeing one person happy in their little family made the rest happy.

Kiritsugu indulged in that feeling briefly as her daughter rushed over to her mother and started talking her ears off. Not that no one minded. Well, except maybe A2.

He waited for a lull in conversation before inserting himself with his family again. "Did you forget, Illya?"

She turned to him with a puzzled look on her face before sheepishly smiling once again. "Uhh...no?"

He chuffed at that. Which was a habit he intended to rectify the moment he noticed it. Being so emotional in the middle of the Fuyuki War was only going to hurt everyone involved. Including the residents of Fuyuki. Allowing emotions like fear and happiness to get in his way would only put his family at risk.

He stopped smiling and pulled out the neatly folded paper for Saber. He didn't need the one for A2, he made sure little Illya memorised her own Servants stats. Even he memorised them in case she forgot.

"Here Illya, let's pull up a seat and we can get to studying right?" He approached one of the small circular tables next to the window and pulled out both chairs and opened the window. It was a calm day in all regards. He wouldn't have to worry about the paper being blown away.

Spotting Iri smiling gently at their direction he gestured at the table. Seeing her nod and smile a bit more he went to the bedroom and pulled out the chair inside.

It was something they got for Illya. She stopped caring about beauty products after about a month, but the chair along with the vanity table it came with was still kept in their bedroom.

He pulled up the chair and placed it at the table. Iri came over from a smile, having finished serving Saber tea and curiously quizzed her family on what they were doing.

He let Illya and Iri discuss what they were doing while unfolding the paper and finally getting the lesson started.

Illya peered at the sheet with a grudging sort of curiosity. If it was just him then he might have had to bargain some sweets, but since he and his wife were there they got her to act like a good little girl.

"Alright, so Sabers basic stats are A's in Endurance, Agility, and Mana. She even has an A in her Noble Phantasm category. A B rank in strength and D rank luck. For a Servant, Saber is pretty good. Excellent in fact."

"Eh? So my servant is brilliant then?" She looked confused. But that was only because she was looking for a word better than excellent. At least she didn't say perfect.

He smiled in turn and replied. "Although an A rank in Strength and a permanent A in Agility is pretty great it's not all that there is to a showdown between Servants."

Illya cut in. "Oh! A showdown like in those old western movies! In that case Berserker is definitely better!" She beamed while saying it and didn't stop when A2 scoffed.

"True, true. But there's still more to it than that. Look at Sabers skills. Look here." He pointed down the lower half of the page. Ignoring the lack of more trivial details that was on A2's sheet.

"A rank skills in both Prana Burst and Instinct. Two vital skills to have in combat." He looked to Illya and explained. "Prana Burst greatly boosts one of her stats when she uses it. Allowing her to keep up with A2 and any other Servant that has higher basic stats. And an A rank in instinct is life saving, especially when combined with an A in both Endurance and Agility." He took a breath and watched his daughters expressions. "Meanwhile Berserker has to cope with no forewarning and has to dodge. Easy for a Servant with her Agility stat but when you have such low Mana its not possible to-"

"Um, papa? What's the use of a Mana stat on Berserker?" His daughter looked a little guilty at interrupting but he never minded when she did that. It proved she had an important question for him, less so this time but he didn't mind.

"It means she can't fight for very long. Like a candle being lit on both ends. She's a powerful fighter for a short while but can't win in a fight of attrition against anyone with a higher Mana stat." It was a shame Berserker had such low stores of energy. Odd too considering the bodily EX Noble Phantasm she sported supported such a play style. "That's why they should fight Illya."

He knew he had her concerned for her Servant. Which would get him what he wanted. He ignored the look Iri sent him, and the sharper ones that came from A2 and Saber. He knew fully well he made no sense to anyone but Illya.

"Well...okay. As long as nobody gets hurt right?" He smiled down at her once again.

"Don't worry Illya, We can heal Saber."

She looked even more concerned. "But what about Berserker?"

That was when he knew she had probably lied to him when she said she had memorised her Servants sheet.

"You didn't read A2's paper huh Illya?"

A guilty little smile was his reward.

The family watched from the balcony as the Servants fought on the ground below them. He had placed listening devices there beforehand. And he'd check if Pod had some sort of video or audio capability once the match was over.

Saber placed a foot down in the snow and steadied herself. "Servant Berserker, are you ready?" She examined her opponent. Her opponent didn't have armor with the exception of a leather chest piece.

But Saber wasn't fooled. _An opponent_ _not only from far away_ _lands but_ _from the far future?_ She thought. _It is odd_ _to believe_ _that the_ _woman_ _in front of me_ _is a machine. That cold steel_ _that makes up_ _her body will_ _be a tough_ _target_ _to cut through._

Her opponent grabbed one of her swords, suspended next to her back by odd magic and pointed the blade at her, a pure white katana that was short and easy to wield.

But A2 did something unexpected. "You're gonna fight me huh? Hope it'll last."

Saber smiled. Such a comment might be more prickling to her peers but it raised her competitive spirit. But it didn't end there. A pulse was felt in her body. Insidiously subtle. Or laughably weak.

"It seems you don't know that my Magic Resistance is at a solid A. Whatever trick you've done won't work on me." She brought Excalibur up to her shoulder. "A2! I am King Arthur! Prepare yourself, Iron Maiden!"

She ran at A2. Excalibur poised to stab. A2 only had one sword out, the other still suspended in midair by some queer technology.

It was like a magic trick how her companion and current sparing partner reached behind herself and three the shorter sword, Beastbane at her.

With deft maneuvering the King of Knights blocked the blade. Shunting sword from shoulder to hold in front of her stomach to block the blades triple strike.

She had wondered what ability it had. Now she knew. "For a blade to strike thrice?!" She barely gritted it out. A blades regular strike followed by three materialisations of the same level of strength. And not only that, but some sort of warp within the air that also counted as a strike, thankfully nullified by Invisible Air.

Five strikes from a Servant with A rank Strength?! No wonder her Mana stat was so terrible!

The King of Knights dashed into Beastbanes point as much as she could, swinging Excalibur towards Beastbanes hilt and blocking the next strike from A2.

It was not her Instinct that let her block, but the line gouged deep into the snow and the huge distortion of snow that gave her an indicator of where Berserker would attack from. The snow had exploded for lack of a better word. Creating some sort of sphere before crumbling.

"Guh!" The force exhibited from Berserker was forcing her back by a handful of inches. But that wasn't the problem.

Arturia could see Beastbane start to disappear into bright light and reforming upon A2's back. And the strategy of A2 became clear, Beastbane was used to distract Arturia, making her block and leaving her vulnerable to a dual striking offence.

"Useless!" Sharp cutting winds and a hammering force separated the two.

The release of Invisible Air for just a second in order to gain distance.

"Pod. What's her sword's length?"

Arturia spoke with an even tone. "Impossible, you observed it for only a second, you could not have-"

"It is twelve centimeters wide and ninety centimetres in length."

Arturia gripped Excalibur more firmly than she usually did. A2 looked as passive as she usually did.

Bullets sprang from Pod at the same moment Arturia sprung towards A2. Having to hold Invisible Air in a guarding position and angling herself so that the bullets hit as much armor as possible.

Suddenly the attacks changed. "Missiles." Miniature explosive devices that she had seen her Master prepare had emerged from Pod. The real danger was that they attacked from the air, not the damage that they caused.

She jumped into the air, racing towards the missiles with Invisible Air and throwing off Pod's wide field of aim to escape repeat attacks. It was then that she disbursed Invisible Air again and threw the missiles off course, scattering them so that she had a chance to land a critical strike against Berserker.

A2 clicked her tongue. Those were useless now, wouldn't reach Saber in time before they exploded. and although she'd typically dodge this and rush in to retaliate she couldn't afford to really play it safe anymore, not with such low Mana reserves. She'd have to block. Something only morons did, but it might tilt things into her favour.

She pulled out Iron Will and kept Virtuous Contract and got ready to switch to the next set if things didn't work out.

As for Saber she descended and narrowed her eyes as she observed A2's Noble Phantasm. A hunk of rusted iron. She didn't know how it became a legendary weapon, but she was staring down a truly gigantic great sword that spilt so much blood upon itself that it had no edge.

"Aaaahhhh!" Arturia brought down Excalibur in all its glory against the flat edge of Iron Will with a Prana Burst aiding her and got the desired result. The flat metal raised to guard began to give way, starting to pushed against A2's body.

But that didn't matter. "Pod!"

"Affirmative." Pod placed itself right before Arturia's face and began to charge one of its minor Noble Phantasms; Laser, point blank at Arturia.

Instinct had reared its head in a violent manner. She knew there was a sword heading to pierce her. Right below her chest piece, where the armor didn't cover. The Pendragons intuition guided her to the correct answer, the way to dodge both.

She banged her knees against Iron Will in order for her feet to find purchase and donned Invisible Air across Excalibur once more and launched herself the shortest distance she could get away with.

The white unsullied katana rose where she once was and immediately dissolved into nothingness, Iron Will along with it. She wore the wings of angels and monstrous gauntlets with three spikes and abandoned all pretense of defence. She knew she couldn't trigger Madness Enhancement, not even with a low grade minor Noble Phantasm playing distraction.

As Arturia landed, still being pushed back by her own strength she kept her eyes on both, ready to twist her body to avoid the Laser's shot. A dangerous thing since most of her weight was on her ankles in this position. The only source of stability and Berserker was rushing her.

The Laser came at her, no great threat but taking a hit served to do nothing but pave the way to defeat. She moved her legs and head sideways, to the left to avoid it. The ends of her hair were vaporized but that was fine. A2 rushing her was also no problem.

"Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind King!" Releasing Invisible Air into A2 at such a close distance as an attack straight into her stomach was the answer.

"Gah, fuck!"

Arturia stood back up and planted her sword into the snow, piercing the ground that it had planted itself upon. "Such uncouth language was not what I expected from you, A2."

She looked into distance and tried to pick out her fellow Heroic Spirit amongst the litter of broken and fallen trees. There were more than she cared to count, she only had to look at the destroyed ones to-

Instinct. _IT SCREAMED AT HER._

Saber understood exactly what had happened. She waited for A2.

Mad Enhancement was triggered, what did that put her at? A Strength? Whatever the case it was to quick. Her sword was planted to the ground on her right, and the attack was coming from her left. But Instinct wasn't telling her how to dodge this time, only how fast the attack was coming.

On a gamble she dove backwards whilst pulling her sword from the ground. It was enough, a spear overwhelmed her sight, a spear that was adorned with ugly faces. Crying children?

She twisted around to see A2. Already close enough to stab her with a spear if she had one equipped. She saw the air in front of A2 being warped by the sheer speed before something peculiar happened. A flash of red overcame A2. She hurried to parry the Berserker, the gauntlets were still on as well as the Berserker state.

She braced, using her Noble Phantasm the way it was meant to be used would kill A2, something she didn't want. Prana Burst was the only way she could keep up with Berserkers attacks, she knew this by Instinct and she hadn't even thrown the first punch yet.

"Grk!" She wished Berserker never threw that first punch. _So this is_ _what EX_ _strength_ _feels_ _like_. She went flying back, barely keeping her heels dug in the snow.

Now it made sense why Berserker's health is drained when using Madness Enhancement. There were fractures in the bones of her arm. Excalibur was fine of course, but This Cannot Continue. She braced herself for the second and quickly wrapped her sword in Invisible Air.

Berserker ran at her, foregoing that strange maneuver that resulted in distorting the air and left a line in the snow. She held her sword up and parried as many as she could, using Prana Burst to dampen the damage that she'd incur on her arms otherwise.

One, three, five, the blows from the gauntlets wrapped in angel wings came again and again. Too quick for a slower Servant to count. A2 kept beating against Saber as much as she could.

Wretched Weaponry didn't work on Saber because of her high Magic Resistance. She figured that out when she didn't receive a buff to her Strength for taunting Saber at the beginning. Nice to know it counted as magic at least. But she couldn't keep this up any longer, soon enough she'd be running on fumes and then they'd call the match off over some crappy safety reason.

At least she got the last criteria filled. You needed to do two things to get EX strength. Since Wretched Weaponry didn't work she had to keep evading and pass up some opportunities to attack.

All Attacker models were equipped with it, an offensive dash. Hitting with it was frankly a miracle though. So she kept hammering at Saber. But it wasn't enough. She switched to the next set.

A Type 40 great sword and spear. The violent clashes and bangs of a great sword against an invisible Excalibur rang across the clearing. But that wasn't enough. "Pod!"

"Affirmative. Gravity Noble Phantasm deployed." Behind her back rose three copies of Pod. Each having charged the same Noble Phantasm. She pinned her hopes on it being enough to pin Saber in place.

As the field landed, Saber still within the predicted field she reached for her spear. It shook and rattled with bright blue electricity. As Saber was held in place by the Gravity field she considered the internal damage done to her circuitry as pride. Even though sparks were coming from her body she won this.

As Saber looked at her with narrow eyes from the Gravity field she prepared her charge attack.

As Berserker came charging towards her Saber used Prana Burst once again to bring her sword in the appropriate position. The position to attack. She brought up Invisible Air over her head and screamed.

"Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind King!" The hammer of condensed wind was enough to bring A2 to the brink.

Synthetic flesh was torn and red hot circuits were exposed to the world. Hot enough to boil any liquid.

The match had ended in Saber's victory. A2 lay on the ground before quickly getting up. The rules agreed upon by the Masters were quite detailed, with no room for misinterpretation.

So even as Saber observed A2's Wretched Weaponry set about fixing her wounds she was the winner of this match. Her pride was personally pricked by her own wounds however. She could not in good conscience call herself the winner.


	4. Chapter Four

They were all on the plane to Fuyuki. It still irked him that Illya was being brought into such a dangerous situation. But each time his daughters little hands wrapped around her mothers with childish adulation on her sweet face his heart swelled.

Seeing her daughter play cute little games for children with her family and Saber brought a smile to his face. Seeing all this made him calm. Because Illya was close to him and her mother. So close that he could always protect her. So close that-

"Dad? Where did A2 go?"

That dead hollow look in his eyes that came from his childhood came back again. His smile and optimism: gone.

*plop*

She reeled Pod back in again. This might just be the toughest thing she's ever fished.

Who knew how difficult it would be to go fishing on an airplane? It was a good challenge though. Tougher than anything she's ever faced before.

She stood above the cockpit and relaxed on her hard light chair, feeling the wind rustle her hair and brushed it away if it obscured her vision.

Timing Pod's falling speed at an angle while this plane went at five hundred and fifty miles per hour wasn't easy. So for the first few tries she screwed up placing her bait. Her bait being Pod.

"Yeah..." She sighed around the cigarette in her mouth. This was where it was at. No sounds to rely on. The most extreme test of her ocular devices that she's ever experienced. No android's ever stress tested their visual systems this much before, which made her smile around the cigarette.

Kind of made her wish she was modeled with a rougher face in mind. Even when dirt caked her face she still looked pretty damm pretty. She didn't mind that. She was just self-conscious enough to know her habits really didn't match her looks.

She barely saw the tiniest off colour patch of water disappear and quickly started inputting commands to pull Pod up. To an outside observer she didn't do anything at all. But the relation between a Pod and an android was something that didn't need gestures. Words between the two was shared simply to save time on hacking the other and finding the intent.

Certain commands from her Plug-in Chips exacerbated that effect, letting it know when to fire and what to charge. As Pod finally went airborne again she could see that pulled up an odd fish that she never saw before. But now that Pod came closer she saw what it actually was.

"Hypothesis: Junk."

"Of course its junk. Why the hell is an antique rocket launcher here? Well whatever." She cast him out to sea again. The rocket launcher turning into pure light and storing itself for her to pull out and sell later.

She reformed her hard light chair into a recliner and leaned back on it as far as she could.

Why couldn't she get a shark?

The situations were very different for Saber and the family in the plane however. Little Illya wanting to play pattycakes with A2 while the rest were scanning the room as the rest of them began scanning the room.

Kiritsugu already had a plan in mind, already had a suspect.

"Caster." He could Saber nod out of the corners of his eyes. Only a Servant of magic could do this. No guns. Maiya had them all and was delivering to them to the stronghold.

He didn't have to watch with any measure of focus to see what happened next.

The passengers roared and screamed as Illya and Iri sat there with slack jaws. He wasn't any different.

It took a few seconds to process what he was seeing properly. He could barely hear it over the sounds of all the other passengers yelling but he heard A2 from somewhere above him.

"A whale!? How much is this gonna sell for Pod?"

He understood it now. He understood what it meant to have Golden Rule for a skill.

But when the plane reached Fuyuki he was going to find out how wrong he was. Kiritsugu didn't know the Golden Rule at all, but he was going to understand.

For now he just set about hypnotising the passengers into forgetting what had happened and focused his attention of gaining a stockpile of the more expensive things in his arsenal.

He couldn't wait to get out of the plane. But he wondered why anything would bite Pod at all.

It happened a few more times, resulting in him having to do it again, his darling of a wife took over sometimes as well. His daughter was done with her games and eagerly watched for any more catches.

Seeing this kind of made him want to take it up too. Although...he would feel a little insecure when he thought about this if he ever took up fishing.

When they finally touched down Berserker wasn't spotted until they finally reached the limousine he arranged for his family. But that didn't matter. He was no where near the limousine or his family.

No one would know that he was the master of Saber. And although he hated it, the mother and daughter being Masters in this war would take all the attention off of him. He hated this, but for the future he was okay with it. Saber or Berserker would function as a guard dog for his family.

He gave up on his family once. But never again. That, above all things was something he'd be willing to die for. He made for the manor that Maiya was sent to and emboldened himself to fight against the past itself in order to change the future.

For A2 and Saber however things were much more simple.

Illya had taken the spotlight in their little group and played around. This time she did so from her mothers lap. A2 stared. She got away with it from being in the passenger seat, but she knew she had to stop looking at some point.

She was just thinking about the kids. About Pascal...about the village children. The children whose cores were-

"Unit A2 is-"

"Quiet Pod."

"A2?" The mother and daughter duo looked at her.

"It's nothing."

But Illyasviel wouldn't let it go quite so easily. She narrowed her eyes and hummed at her. Just as A2 was about to turn around and look at the road again Illya spoke. "Ah! Mama! Berserker needs an oil change!"

A2's hair beat the driver in the face with how quickly she turned to stare at Illya. Irisviel spoke up. "Oh my?" She turned to look at A2. "Is this true Berserker? We've never really had the chance to talk so we don't know how androids work."

"What the hell? No-"

"She's lying mama! We need to go outside into the big city and explore!" She gestured with her arms as she spoke over A2 as loudly as she possibly could. "Stop the car!"

"Yes Madam." The Einzbern homunculus that was driving the car pulled over immediately. Irisviel looked a little guilty but didn't do anything to stop what was going on.

"No! I don't need an oil change I-" She went silent before opening up the door and getting out. "Fine, whatever. If you want to walk around town that badly, sure." Illya beamed at her. "Just don't take me to a gas station all right?"

They all left the car except for the Einzbern homunculus who staffed it. Multiple combat maids who had weapons hidden under the seats. "We will meet you at the manor Ms. Irisviel."

It was only when the limousine pulled away and went onwards that Saber finally asked questions as Illya and Iri lead them around the town.

The Heroic Servant dressed in an all black business suit turned to her. "I didn't expect you to say yes Berserker."

Long hair, dyed blond this time turned to face Saber, revealing A2's face. "It was obvious what she was doing. She would have hounded me otherwise. God, why's every kid I ever met so pushy?"

Saber smiled. She was finally getting to know Berserker at the very least. They hadn't ever really conversed at all, being summoned right when the Holy Grail War was about to begin didn't leave them with much time for chatting. Now that she thought about it they had probably traded only a few sentences to one another.

She knew Irisviel more than the person she'd be fighting alongside with for the duration of this Holy Grail War. It didn't help that they were placed on two extremes. With silence from Kiritsugu and too much conversation from the mother and daughter. Illya and Iri had a way of distracting from the more serious points of a conversation. Not that such a thing was bad, to know someone you had to melt the ice. But some parts had to be broken.

To truly know someone you needed to find out the most horrifying parts of their history with a solemn conduct. Just as you needed to simply spend time with them and do the smallest things.

She glanced at the family and smiled a bit more forlornly. She shouldn't really talk about friendship. She was a king, she was afforded no such luxuries. But as she thought about her reign as the king of Britain she glanced at A2. There was something to be envious of right beside her. Kings are not allowed to let emotion rule them. To be trapped in a yolk of iron...

She carried on the conversation as Illya pressed her face into the glass of a sweet stores display window. "Still Berserker, how did you attain so many Noble Phantasms? And the uh...hair dye?"

"You mean the swords and all that? I just found them really. Don't know why they came with me since they're not really the stuff of legend at all. All I know is that they're ancient and reinforced to hell and back." She quickly held up one parts of Angels Folly to her chest before digitizing it again. "Some of them are supposed to be parts of mythological beasts though, so I guess that might do it." She summoned that white blade again. "Hell, I never even used this one as much as 2B did but I've got it. The only thing I can come up with is that Wretched Weaponry did something to them. You couldn't toss your sword like a boomerang and not lose it unless you were something like me. Actually, now that I think about it, we were probably built with that feature in mind. It'd be pretty stupid if you lost your weapon. So I suppose its an integral part of my body."

Saber looked at her from her seat on the ferris wheel. "I see. The only reason their with you is because you were designed to not lose them. Your concept is your Noble Phantasm." She kept an eye on Illya and Iri who were in one of those spinning teacup contraptions. "No. That's not it. Perhaps an actual magus could explain it better."

A2's light blue hair blew in the breeze as she looked to the distant horizon. How did she dye it so fast?! "Well, whatever it is I'm glad I have it. It'd be a pain to fight bare handed."

Pod popped up from the back of A2's neck, having sequestered itself away under A2's shirt. It would have looked pretty ridiculous if her long hair didn't cover up what was happening.

"Proposal: Since it has been established that A2's Noble Phantasms are tethered to an EX Phantasm located in her body, care should be taken to avoid being hit or affected by a Noble Phantasm of an equivalent rank. Unit 2B had lost the weapon designated as; Virtuous Treaty when she activated her Black Box."

"Sure, whatever." They got back to the bottom of the ferris wheel and got off to meet the Einzbern family.

"A2, Saber! Look at what we got! We filled a stamp card! C'mon, let's get the prize!" As they walk away, unprepared for the chaos that this night would bring another alteration is spotted in the timeline.

As Kiritsugu readied his weapons after watching watching the video footage of Assassin dies he reloads his Walther.

"About two seconds. I've gotten slower."

"Yes." Maiya replied.

He puts it back in the case with a delicate touch and remains silent. "Illya weighs less than that Walther." He whispers it out loud. "And yet...she is already eight years old." He hunches over it.

Again. Its come back to haunt him again. He can't stand it. That Illya is so...

He stands up suddenly and gets ready.

These small moments of punishment that he's had to store away are affecting him. Illya is here, its for this reason he's got his Walther. At any moment now she might be attacked. It was his duty to strike out preemptively and stop such a thing from happening.

"Maiya. Bring what you need. The Grail War is starting tonight"

"Yes sir."

 **P.S: College is starting soon, just to let you know. I also have no drafts for future chapters...I...also have not finished watching Fate/Zero.**


	5. Chapter Five

For one man, Kiritsugu Emiya, the war had begun.

For one man, Kariya Matou, the war had ended.

Born out of desperation, with everything he held sacred on the line, with his life on the line, he placed it all on the Holy Grail.

Seeing everything turn to ash, as the regent for summoning wasn't working right he thought for a way out of this, his mind desperately churning out ideas.

It was this desperation and the moving hand of a God that birthed this new direction of fate and destiny. As the reagent CLEARLY DIDN'T WORK, HE SCREAMED!

HE HOWLED BUT NOTHING CAME FORWARD! "NOTHING! ALL OF IT WAS FOR NOTHING! IS THERE ANYTHING-"

It was when the white had enveloped his vision that he calmed down. When a hope was relight in his heart.

A sound reverberated in the room. Metal, Kariya looked up. Three belts, two of which had a yellow hourglass pattern stamped all over it. The last one was made of a black fabric and held up four metal discs that were somehow interlocked.

Brown spikey hair and a calm face. As he observed the black pants and the modern shoes he had coming towards him he had less of an idea of what class this Servant was. Everything seemed...modern. All except for the belts and the shirt. No one sold those patterns on the sleeves or had such overdone white shoulders. The shirt didn't even cover his sternum. And the patterns on those sleeves were shaped after either mountains or isosceles triangle.

"Greetings Master." The Heroic Servant bowed. "I am Archimedes of the Caster class and-oh?" He looked up and drew in a quick breath. "Ah my, what a state you're in. Although...I have to say, for a magus to put worms in your face. Hmm..." He tapped the side of his head with his finger. "But for what reason?" He lowered his hand and kept muttering.

It was Tech. Understanding. The rarest ability that could possibly be possessed by a Heroic Spirit. A skill that was at EX.

A skill that lets Archimedes understand the most basic principals of every phenomenon, unravel it, and prove it.

How the Holy Grail worked, how a Noble Phantasm worked, all of it could be understood by Archimedes.

Kariya would soon come to understand that Zouken Matou's immortality was no more difficult for his Servant to understand than how a gun worked. It wouldn't even take a minute.

It was the power of the mind that would allow Kariya to obtain his wishes. Intelligence driven by a dying mans wish would bring about many brilliant things to come.

But our focus is ripped from this anomaly and turns once again to Berserker and Saber.

It was on a quiet and lonely mound of dirt that a family stood on. Irisviel still wide awake and taking in all the scenery with her eyes. As her daughter trudged up the mound to stand beside her she caressed her daughters head. Sweet little Illya was tired. If this kept up one of them would have to carry her.

Not that she'd mind that. Forming close bonds and ties to people was never a bad thing. She gazed across the dark sea, illuminated by the blue moon with her daughter.

"It's beautiful. Like a giant mirror, pointed towards the night sky."

"Its beautiful mama." Illya smiled tiredly, her eyes were barely open, but they had widened a little more upon seeing this sight with her mother.

As her mother doffed her footwear her child did the same out of curiosity.

They began dancing under moonlight. Their bare feet tapping against the waves and the sand, feeling a cold breeze tickle their feet all the while. A faint laughter was heard from mother and daughter both before they began to dance in silence.

Minutes passed like this, until Iri began walking across the beach, hands behind her back. "Walking through a new town with a gentleman friend is such a wonderful feeling." She began tossing a smooth pebble up and down.

"Was I enough of a gentleman for you?"

"You were absolutely perfect." She closed her eyes and smiled. "A knight in shining armor, I would say."

Saber smiled and bowed, hand on her chest. "It was my honor, princess."

"Saber, do you like the ocean?" She listened to the waves and the small splashes in the distance, the sound of her daughter dancing in the waves. A2 was close enough to rush over to either woman if an attack happened.

"I don't quite know how to answer. In my era, in my kingdom, the ocean was flooded with invaders from faraway countries." She closed her eyes in remembrance. "I had no love for the ocean. I cursed it."

"I'm sorry." Irisviel replied. "Even though we are both women, your life as the king of Britain didn't permit you the freedom to wander about, as we did today."

Saber shook her head and smiled. "And you, Irisviel, would have preferred to wander the town as a family, correct?"

Irisviel could hear her daughter getting closer, so before she got too close to hear her speak she whispered. "I couldn't...it would be a painful memory for him." Seeing Saber's face turn with shock she turned to Berserker and asked her the same question. "So Berserker, what do you think of the ocean?"

Her daughters ran a little quicker after hearing that question, she stopped right by her mother as A2 turned to her. "How would I know? What, do you think they made me waterproof or something?"

Iri still kept smiling. "Well, you never know do you? You're a very sophisticated woman in your own ways after all."

Pod, who was hovering by A2's shoulder the entire time finally spoke up. "Query: Was Irisviel attempting to flirt with A2, or was this an attempt at complimenting A2 as a sophisticated piece of technology?"

Irisviel sniggered while her daughter was flushed red and wide awake at the comment from Pod. Even Saber looked surprised and a little red in the cheeks. "I also have another query. Earlier Saber had stated that the ocean was flooded with enemies. Was this an attempt at a pun? Because it is physically impossible to flood the ocean in any way, shape or form, especially when adding human reproduction rates into the calculations."

Saber looked like she was going to retort to Pod's question when she gasped and looked at Irisviel.

Irisviel gazed back with a measure of sadness. "What is it Saber? An enemy Servant?" It was largely a rhetorical question, she'd accept a negative but she knew the truth. That the war had truly begun so soon.

"Yes. About a hundred meters from here." Saber replied. A2 and Arturia waited for orders from the mound of dirt, ready to enact any orders given.

"How generous...well, its not like this war can be won if we do nothing, right?" Irisviel turned to them all and smiled.

And that was how the first conflict in the Holy Grail War began. With Saber and Lancer staring each other down. Illya and Berserker were right next to each other and away from the battle, tucked away in a shipping container and awaiting orders from Kiritsugu.

The orders would come from Irisviel's phone when they got them. Kiritsugu was ultimately told of what they were planning and had told Illya and her Servant to do what they were doing now.

Contrary to A2's worries Illya wasn't scared. She seemed excited thankfully. Even as they heard the environment get destroyed Illya wasn't scared at all. "Hey, hey, do you think Saber is totally crushing Lancer right now? Daddy's Heroic Servant is one of the best! Hey who do you think Lancer is?"

Berserker sighed. Those orders couldn't come quick enough. The only thing she heard other than Illya's voice in this cramped metal tin was thunder, and that happened minutes ago.

But suddenly she heard someone shout, yelling for the world to hear, his voice was louder than weapons clashing, but not unpleasant. "And the rest of you! I know you are hiding in the darkness, spying on us." The man speaking went quiet for awhile until he began speaking again. "Heroes summoned by the Grail, let us gather! And those too paralyzed by fear to show your faces, know that Iskandar, King of Conquerors, holds you in utter contempt!"

Illya turned to her. "Did you hear that Berserker!? We've got to go out there and challenge him!" She turned to run out of the shipping crate when A2 got a grip on her. "Berserker?! What are you doing? Can't you hear from the phone? Dad needs to get Assassin out of this Holy Grail War and nows the best time to-"

"Shut up kid are you crazy?! Listen, we haven't received orders to-"

"Berserker, don't make me use a Command Seal! We've got to do it! Berserker attack Assassin right now!" The Command Spells on her small hand glowed red, it was a threat, but not an empty one.

"Proposal: Agree."

"What the hell? Are you serious!?"

"Hypothesis: It is likely that the enemy who is speaking possesses a high Charisma skill to have such an effect on Illya. And between wasting a Command Spell to force Unit A2 to kill a Servant when such a Command Spell could instead be used to strengthen an attack or teleport Unit A2 to-"

"Fine! Whatever! But you're gonna get hell for this kid, where's Assassin Pod?"

Pod turned to their right and began charging the Laser. As it charged all the way up to its final form it released a burning bright beam towards the Servant on the crane.

At that same instant she grabbed Illya and ran out of the container. There _was_ a good chance that they were going to end up attacking Assassin but that oaf who began speaking just had to lit a fuse in Illya that made her want to impress him.

"Dammit kid." Where were they supposed to run to now? Suddenly the crates to their left exploded. A lifetime spent with no second chances made dodging ambushes an easy task.

Spear, explosions and shrapnel were all dodged. But the problem was Illya. Where did she toss the dumb kid?

"Grr, fuck! Pod!"

"Extracting Illya from the combat zone."

"Don't say her name in front of enemy Servants you moron!"

"Affirmative." Pod grabbed Illya in its hands and started moving her as far from the docks as possible. "In the case that Pod 042 is destroyed, Illya must use her Command Spells to summon Unit A2."

"Wha-let me down from here I-" Pod talked over Illya.

"Unit A2 should confirm the death of Servant Assassin. It is highly unlikely that a Heroic Servant would actually perish when assaulted with a Laser Noble Phantasm." Pod drifted away as the smoke cleared and revealed all the Servants gathered so far.

Lancer, Saber, that ass who just had to brag and some blond nutcase. No Assassin though. Not a surprise, they probably got out or got incinerated by a Laser.

It was clear that the blond standing on a lamp post was the one to smash her cover since he still had a spear hovering beside him.

"Hmph, another dog. But the from the look of this one perhaps she's worth keeping in my treasury? I can see that there is more to you."

A type 40 great sword and spear was summoned in broad view of the other Servants. "I don't care about what you've got to say, I'm just gonna smash through that ugly hunk of rust with my bare hands."

He sneered. "Hmph, perhaps you were not built right, pathetic mongrel."

It was when he finished that he jumped up. A lightning charged spear sailed past him. The shockwave released from her weapons having tore the lamp post he stood on to an unstable mess.

"Hnnn...UNSTABLE THING! YOU WOULD DARE?" His vision cleared and he calmed down. Weapons after weapons emerged from the air, distortions in space that were the colour of gold. "I cannot abide your existence, _thing_."

A ripple in the air and A2 was gone, but Gilgamesh was not bothered. He still had the same distance advantage that did well to curb her ferocious speed. His keen eyes had already seen the trail left behind in the drab concrete of this place.

Weapons after weapons were threw somewhere close to her trajectory. A curved path towards him from the right. "You will never reach me, dog. All your efforts are useless."

Suddenly the great sword came swinging down onto the ground in front of her. It was a spare moment for her to not dodge but attack instead. The ground split open in front of her strike. The air itself being turned into a weapon. Such a mighty force stopped at Gilgamesh. The shockwave of air didn't tear up the ground that Gilgamesh stood on. The attack ended there.

Only a hand was raised to protect his face from the attack. "Foolish...did you think my armour was just for show?" He folded his arms and gazed at her calmly. "You are mine woman. And no one's possessions can strike out at their owner!"

The hail of Noble Phantasms escalated. It was upped by about ten more portals.

But that was fine. Unbeknownst to the Heroes gathered that night Berserker only had to last so long. She didn't even need to scratch Gilgamesh.

Dodge, swap the spear for another great sword, dodge again, get a few inches closer before evading once more. Such was the nature of the barrage.

As the Servants watched another would arrive, Kotomine Kirei had not entrusted things to one Assassin alone.

Hassan-I-Sabbah. The one hundred faced Assassin, whose Noble Phantasm was his body.

He was a person split into multiples of himself. A Heroic Spirit division caused by an unstable psyche.

As A2 began to close the distance the volleys increased, beginning to reign down from above her and from the sides as well as from the front.

This wasn't good. One hit and that'd be the end of everything. But still she advanced. She could see that Saber was done evaluating the enemy and was about to move. _Finally._

"What are you doing Lancer? Finish your fight with Saber, _now_." A voice called from the darkness. That was Lancers master right? Why wasn't he dead yet?!

"What?! Master, please reconsider-"

"By the authority of my Command Spell, I order you to strike down Saber."

 _Fucking great. Stuck fighting this guy_ _with no support_. _Dammit Illya_... _if I just had Pod_ _then I could_ _put up a barrier_ _and get close_ _to him!_

"FUCK! Dammit!"

"My possessions will not swear..." Red eyes watched her get closer. She wasn't too far now. She could almost throw her sword and hit the guy. But it wasn't so simple. These rain of swords would just toss it off course.

She needed to get even closer before she could actually land an effective attack.

That was when the blond in front of her looked up sharply. "What?! You dare order me to retreat Tokiomi?!...You've made a dire mistake Tohsaka." He turned to her as he faded to gold dust.

A2 sighed. "Thank God that's over." She turned to look at Saber.

There was no Lancer in sight. Only Rider and Saber were around to see this crapshoot. Irisviel too.

She quickly dug into the concrete of this place and began writing with her sword before running back to the Einzbern manor in Fuyuki.

That was the standard place that Illya should go to if threatened. It was where she would have been at if this attack had happened under a different timeframe.

As she ran she backtracked for a quick moment to look for Iri's phone but couldn't find it. She gave up on it thinking that it was destroyed. She continued back to get to Illya with the message left behind in the ground forming the words: "She is safe."

A2's end began on this night. The Greek Mathematician had saw it all. And such a thing was enough to spell disaster.


	6. Chapter Six

A2 took a few minutes to cross most of the town.

Now there was a problem. She couldn't hypnotise people into forgetting that a woman was running faster than a car and _wasn't_ denting the pavement. Really, no one in high heels should be able to run so quickly.

Sadly A2 wasn't perfect, she could still trip. Didn't fall over and leave an indent in the pavement, but she did trip and stall.

Honestly that fight against Gilgamesh was getting dirty.

She sighed and started walking instead. There was no point in rushing since she was so close now. Instead she cooled her heels and got thinking.

"..." She stopped moving and started observing the town, bathed in it's orange lights from lamp posts. Light blue hair swung softly in the wind.

"So she's hypnotised by Charisma huh? Guess its because she's so young." She started walking slowly again and thought over all the consequences.

Walking under the darkness of the night she wondered what exactly would happen in a fight to the death against Saber. A family united along with Saber, a Servant with B rank Charisma. She breathed out as she came closer to the manor, the androids navigational system informing her.

She knew what the result would be. They'd gang up against her. Even if she won would she get her dream? It wasn't even implicated that the Grail gave two wishes away.

So who exactly wished upon a Grail? Beholding the iron fence and the wooden doors of the...castle, she advanced forwards.

She had seen better castles, so she called it a manor most of the time.

"Bet it's filled with rich people things too." She muttered.

Suddenly she saw the doorknob twist open. She expected one of the Einzbern maids, but instead it was Pod to come out and fly at her.

It began speaking, tossing in hand gestures from time to time. "Pod can confirm that the establishment is filled with decor what one might declare as: Bourgeoisie."

She sighed. "I could figure that out Pod. I can see lights through the windows you know."

They got through the castle doors and went to Illya's room. "Query: Why did Unit A2 not state with confidence the modifications done to a defensive structure."

They walked up the central staircase, second floor was the bedrooms with all the important people.

"Pod, could you...just talk less?"

The sounds of A2's high heels were accompanied with a comment from Pod. "Hypothesis: Unit A2 has developed an affinity for the human emotion of irritation. Please confirm this."

"Shut. Up!"

Walking past white walls with electric lighting and looking for a specific white door with golden decorations would have been hard for anyone else since every door was the same but an android could ignore the problem that a lack of variety presented.

So she turned on a ninety degree angle and opened the door of Illya's room.

The first thing she saw was silvery hair tucked under the covers of her bed, the room was dark too but she didn't care if Illya was sleeping or not.

"Hey, kid." A2's harsh voice grabbed Illya's attention, she started to turn to face her Servant. "Do you know how stupid that was-"

"He's not back Berserker...farther isn't back."

A2 breathed through her nostrils. She knew where this was going.

"Look kid I'm sure he's fine, but what you did was dumb okay? I don't want you pulling any other moves like that again okay? You're putting us both in danger doing stuff like that okay?"

Illya's scared and concerned expression peeked out from the covers.

"I-I know I did a bad thing but I didn't mean to. I...I just wanted to look cool in front of that guy for some reason." She sat up properly. "I won't do it again, I promise, just find my farther!"

She sighed in pain. Another quest. "Look I'm sure he'll be fine-"

Something in Illya's countenance changed. Some small detail in her face shifted and made A2 silent. It was probably the teary eyes and the sounds that-

"Fine! I'll go look for your pops kid. Just don't do anything like what you did at the docks okay?"

She stormed off as quickly as she could but Illya spoke again. "Umm, Berserker? There was supposedly some scary man that's hurting families. I don't want to push my boundaries as a Master but...could you teach him a lesson, and make him stop?" Illya sounded unsure of herself as she spoke, genuinely afraid of making this request.

"Maybe, if he comes across my path, then I'll think about it." Illya's tentative little smile was her reward as she turned and finally got out of the room.

Pod spoke up then. "Hypothesis: Master Illyasviel Von Einzbern is referring to the serial mass murderer that has made headlines in Fuyuki recently. How much of the news program that she has heard is unknown considering her language and her extreme lack of reaction."

"...Let's go Pod."

"I have accessed the local police records and have marked down the most likely locations for the killers hideout. A bounty can be claimed upon his capture, or with evidence that proves that he is the killer." Everything was silent as they began exiting the manor. "Query: Is it acceptable for a Pod or a YoRHa unit to aid a known terrorist?"

A2 turned to Pod. "What the hell? Where did that come from?"

"The Master known as Kiritsugu Emiya is highly wanted for seemingly random acts of terrorism. One of which was the destruction of an airliner as it was in midair with the use of a rocket launcher. Furthermore an attack has just occurred upon a hotel. All residents were evacuated but only the Master of Saber actually has enough firepower to perform this attack."

"Pod, remind me to ask Emiya what the hell he thinks he's doing?! Does his family even know?"

"Unknown. I will remind you upon the next encounter with Kiritsugu Emiya, provided that Illya is not within the vicinity."

They opened up the doors and started getting to work. "Yeah...that's probably for the best."

She began running towards the spots marked out to be the killers potential hideout. Kiritsugu would be fine, the odds that anyone would connect him to the hotel was too low to even bother considering.

She ran into the middle of the city and ran towards a distant city block. It'd take about a minute to get there and was the most recent site.

It took ten seconds for Pod to raise another question. "Query: Was Assassin confirmed to be deceased?"

"No. I was too busy dealing with that blonde creep. Oh, that reminds me, I lost Irisviel's phone, mind getting that for me Pod?"

"Negative. The signal to the phone was lost long ago. It is presumed destroyed since it had never moved passed the docks. It did last for exactly four minutes past the explosion of the shipping crate somehow."

"Oh." She was almost there. She hopped up onto the buildings and began walking to the next house. She peered down at the police tape and the detectives. Hm.

"Guess I'm busting down the roof then." She brought her fist down onto the roof and exploded its surface. A wide had hole opened up into the room. Blood and corpses. The rubble had landed on the television.

She turned and glanced at everything. "Pod..."

"Affirmative. That is a Servant summoning circle."

"Why? Who knew?"

"Unknown."

She sighed in the darkness. "Great, you're still useless."

"Proposal: Use the Dynamic Scanner and search for fingerprints. Pod 042 could then utilize government records and scan for fingerprints."

"...Well? Are you going to do it or not?"

"Affirmative." She looked around and investigated the room. Parents and blood, like they had been deliberately bleed dry. she looked away. She didn't see the corpses, only the bags that covered them.

She began looking at the more investigative signs that were placed in the room. The newer stuff that wasn't around when this family was alive.

"Guess the cops had finished." Maybe they had just went home?

"Suspect found. Proposal: Flee immediately. The police have called for backup and the ones outside the house have surrounded the structure."

"Let's go." She jumped up and started making a break for it.

"The suspect is Ryuunosuke Uryuu. The location of his house has been marked down upon the map."

North East of where she was. It'd be a quick thirty second jaunt and she'd be there.

Was this guy a Master? He had to be. A sloppy one no doubt but they'd probably have a dangerous Servant with her crappy Luck stat. She was closing in on his home, she considered bringing out her great swords and just demolishing the building but that wouldn't do it quickly enough.

She equipped a pair of combat bracers and saw a skylight built into the unassuming house. She couldn't see since its blinds were pure black but she willingly crashed into it. The plan was to destroy the house so quickly that the Servant had no way to save their Master.

It was made all the more simpler when she saw a guy with orange hair wearing a blue jacket and jeans standing over another summoning circle, his white shirt and boots covered with blood.

Pod didn't even get to confirm that he _was_ the suspect before A2 had punched a hole in his chest. The blood erupting from him and ruining the attic floor, her vision recording the twisted and demented faces that he made.

"Suspect Ryuunosuke Uryuu is confirmed deceased." She didn't wrench her hand and bracer from his chest, there was nothing for her fist to pull back from. The size of the bracer and the shockwave that hit him had severed him into two pieces, his spine being completely destroyed with the rest of his torso. That level of power was enough to split him into many if you included the many pieces of miscellaneous viscera.

Blood covered only the hand that reached into him, the rest being blown backwards and away from her, the blood warping and flying everywhere else as the shockwave disrupted it acting like a blender for human liquids.

She brought her fist back and looked down at the many parts of Uryuu. The entire affair was both quicker and messier than she ever expected it to be. The top half of Uryuu falling to the ground as her fist wasn't holding it up anymore. She turned and looked around.

The summoning circle was once again built out of blood, the victim was another child. A red haired one. Pod floated over and began speaking. "The child was confirmed to be missing from the prior residence that we had visited. This is the child of the deceased parents."

A2 was silent. There was no Blissful Death to be found here. Not for anyone whose lives were touched by this guy. She looked back at the murderer and saw something she hadn't before. A book, clutched tightly in one hand still, still half open.

She approached it and plucked it from his cold dead hands and scanned the page. "A summoning circle...so this guy came from a family of Magus huh?"

She tucked it away by digitizing it and closed the child's eyes. She had no reason to fear. Androids didn't have fingerprints.

"Hypothesis: Ryuunosuke Uryuu was not actually a Master. A Servant would have appeared by now and may have attempted to terminate Unit A2. Conclusion: Uryuu had only attempted to summon a Servant. He is apparently unaware that all seven Servants have been summoned. We should file a report towards the Church about the situation and have them inform all Magus's in future Wars so that this does not happen."

"...Guess I should look around some more. Maybe Kiritsugu could get something from this." She scanned the attic and considered if that was something she should actually do. What Magus his grimoire in cardboard boxes with writing done all over it in a dinky black marker? "Yeah...not getting anything from that. You reported everything to the police right?"

She began walking downstairs and walked out of the front door. "Affirmative. Unit A2 and Pod 042's identity will not be revealed however. I have left a request for it to be placed within a specific location however."

The walk back to the Einzbern manor began. "Oh yeah?"

"I have requested that it be placed within a famous fishing spot in a waterproof container. Proposal: Arrive at night and begin fishing."

"Put it on the map then." She detoured at the reminder of fishing. She had yet to sell anything that she had caught on the way to Fuyuki. Apart from that she wasn't too worried over anything. Kiritsugu wasn't in danger. Probably wasn't even attacked.

She just hoped that a twenty-four-seven shop was a thing in Fuyuki.


	7. Chapter Seven

A sigh echoed thought the mansion.

"What a horrendous lab, honestly..." A gloved finger tapped against a skull. "How could anyone wish to live here?" A shake of the head. "No. None of that matters." He desperately tried to refocus but a complaint must be voiced. "But still...how can one family be so useless?!" Genuine frustration leaked into his voice. He took a deep breath and began speaking again. "All of these books are useless and yet we can't sell them because of the Tohsaka's, they would know if anything went awry with their deal. And of course...having a slave driver for a master certainly helps."

Footsteps echoed across the Matou residence. The voice sighed and spoke once again. "Well, if anything can be said it's that I've accomplished my Master's dream, and that's a good thing." The face of Archimedes was neutral as he said that, as was his tone. "Hmm...ahh well, the loss of those materials only slows my progress, it doesn't halt it. But to pit myself against that monster...I will just have to cope. It's far too early in the Grail War to be concerned, after all there are too many variables right now."

Silence reigned in the Matou household as his thoughts flew through his mind.

The power of his High Speed Incantation skill was granted to him not because of his skill in magic but because of how quickly he thought. He casted as fast as a top rate wizard despite his low capability in magic.

That skill along with Tech. Understanding had made that unique automaton useless in a fight against him. It's why he wanted materials.

He smiled and chuffed with closed eyes. "Honestly...that woman might have changed my wish for the Holy Grail. If only I had the requisite materials then I could rebuild her, improve her even. Honestly...some of the flaws I've seen. It's like they wanted her to fail."

The sounds of metal and footsteps traveled thought the household as he paced again. He recapped his thoughts on that Berserker, it'd take two seconds.

An androids body that was originally built completely from steel with absolutely no trace of magic being completely converted to a body made entirely from magic. It wasn't an easy process.

He could make one _with_ magic. Erasing certain flaws that were present within the Berserker.

Of course he wasn't going to make one, that was unrealistic with the materials and competition he had, focusing on outdoing his competitors was something he had to do for now.

Of course, one of them was already beaten simply because of what she was. Although she was converted into magic her attributes still remained. Her Achilles Heel was something only he could exploit.

The Caster had never quite looked up the legend. Even now. But the question remained: Did Achilles have one heel? Or two? Disabling her functionalities was already something he was capable of doing. But there was one other road open to him and him alone.

To capture and use her. To catch her and reprogram her.

That would let him disable the rules of robotics that she was bound by. Not the three rules of robotics that humanity had proposed but the failings of her being an android. Electronic attacks or well...hacking was something he was capable of.

To overrule that sort of weakness with proper construction was something he was capable of with her. It was a simple fact that the Holy Grail cut corners when summoning Servants. Firstly was how it restricted them to a certain class, cutting down on Noble Phantasms, and even skills and stats. Lessening the burden upon the Grail. Secondly was the fact that it carried over the _weaknesses_ of its Heroic Spirits, thirdly was that Servants were affected by time and the perception of them by human beings, along with many other factors. Working within the Art of Massacre skill was grinding his patience down.

Which begged the question. If this dramatisation affected him enough to give him a negative skill then...what happened to Achilles? He could create a medicine of immortality but was confined by the Art of Massacre! He shook his head and refocused.

The Holy Grail did take liberties with the Master's magic circuits however. How the Grail worked was a mystery, but seeing it up close would let him see and understand all of its workings. In the end it wouldn't be special at all.

As he finished his stint down memory lane he began figuring out how to speed up the resource acquisition. Money and tomes in abundance, its just that there wasn't enough of the former.

"I'm going to need a factory to keep up with that Archer. Seriously." His expression and voice gave away the small measure of amusement he felt towards the problem at hand. "To have so many Noble Phantasms...well he did reveal that to everyone who saw, so perhaps he might night not be a problem for me to tackle..." He scoffed again.

Weary amusement seemed to be a theme with him. "Assassin and Archer are my main threats." A sigh was heaved. "These degraded stats...well, it's not like I can't fix that. But as I recall it's better to obtain the appropriate materials from Magus's, preferably by a trade of family secrets, not money."

Technique Elucidation. Another skill that can interpret and restore essentially anything that can be called a formula. At rank EX one could not only repair magecraft, but damaged circuits and even a crest.

Both of his EX skills were largely the same thing and could be grouped into a single skill. The point was that Kariya's ineptitude with magic wouldn't deteriorate his basic stats for much longer. A very important thing when taking those two troublesome Servants into account.

"Saber..." Thoughts were spinning into his mind. Truthfully if he wanted to be poetic a penalty on his already poor stats didn't matter at all. After all, he was the Wizard of Balance.

Plans among plans were being constructed to tangle with Lancer and Saber. Archer and Assassin were less desirable to handle, not impossible of course.

Plans were being hatched as time went on. Plans that would prepare him for encounters in the present or the future. Item Creation had to be used carefully indeed. He had already used some resources to cure the Matou family. Not that cure was entirely correct word...actually... "Ah, Eureka! Of course, the crest!" The obvious solution was to just alter it! And since he-yes!

The Matou Crest was all about Absorbing, so if he applied that Concept with his Item Creation...

An easy smile and a calm face was seen on Archimedes at his moment of realisation. "Truly Zouken...the irony."

A mental footnote was jotted down in his mind, allowing him to focus upon his Noble Phantasm. The start of it anyway. His catalyst for activation.

He held it up. Everything was working just fine. His Item Creation and Noble Phantasm was one and the same.

Katoptron Katopregon. The name given to the coastal defence of Syracuse. His Noble Phantasm relied upon this catalyst. A Celestial Globe that not only set up his Noble Phantasm but also attacked.

He would have worked on more important things when he felt a Servant trigger his Bounded Field. He didn't have Territory Creation or a great deal in the way of magic but he wasn't a third rate Wizard either.

"...Assassin, I see. Got bored of not knowing enough about me hmm? An especially tricky Noble Phantasm considering my stats, but hardly a challenge compared to what else you might have had." Two cogs were summoned to his side. The projections on the edge being white hot, with the center housing another cog that was thicker and housed a blue light. A pattern of hourglasses that began dark red and gradually turned from orange to yellow was engraved upon the cogs.

Seeing Assassin perish to that inferior beam of energy let him twig on to something being wrong. Even he wouldn't have perished to that attack. It didn't take a minute for him to figure out what the Noble Phantasm was.

As he, Archimedes levitated above the ground he lamented such an outcome. "For human emotions to affect a Noble Phantasm, enough to produce faults is honestly disappointing. There are around eighty bodies when you account for possible flaws created by Assassin."

Caster uttered four quick chants, all of them the same with all of them producing the same result. Four mirrors followed him down the hallway, each of them was pure white and decorated with bronze. The patterns were identical and housed a circle with arrows pointing towards the four cardinal directions within a flower pattern, with bells engraved near each corner of the flower.

He didn't rush at all. Archimedes had a second Noble Phantasm. A Binding Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm.

The ultimate panic room for his Master and the younger Sakura. It was preferable to wait and not move at all frankly, narrow hallways would benefit him far more than anyone else. Which is why he started walking again and took his time, waiting for Assassin to catch up.

His Bounded Field notified him that Assassin had breached the Matou manor, not that he needed such a thing. The sound of broken wood and rapid footsteps rang across the shabby estate. "Goodness Assassin, it seems you've dropped all pretenses of subtlety. Did it matter that much for you to figure out who I am and what I do?" He briefly debated telling Assassin his name so he could get back to his number crunching, but he never could understand people. Considering how _assassin_ of all people was breaking down his door and rushing him so inelegantly from the _front door_ , proved he had no true understanding of people. Even when alive he lamented this.

Closed eyes and a weary huff came from him. The ploy was obvious, if he was Assassin he would have bursted from multiple angles and searched for the master instead of rushing the Servant. Even in close quarters a Caster was dangerous-

A cog went up in front of him, letting the knife ping to the floor. "How unsubtle Assassin, I know you can do better than this." He opened his eyes again, three Assassins were bull rushing him. Running down the corridor. Why this suicide charge was happening was beyond him? Were these dead ends? No. A quick moment let him discern that wasn't true. Just an insane order from Assassin's Master. "How can you possibly be fine with this Assassin?"

They kept throwing knives and getting closer. Perhaps Assassin was just impossible to reason with? It was fine to die for maths but not this!

All four mirrors raced ahead of him, placing themselves across the most important parts of the corridor. Assassin had already became weary but Archimedes was not bound by his stats in any way.

Only Luck and Noble Phantasm was the stats that affected him. His Item Creation moved both faster and quicker than he did, his Item Creation also hit far stronger than he did. Essentially acting as an A attack.

The beauty of such a statistically inferior man striking before even an Assassin could was brilliant. The Celestial Globe rose in front of him and fired a brilliant beam of both stored energy and sunlight. Condensed light being turned into a deadly attack.

The beautiful thing was that it was still light, no matter how deadly it became in his hands. He fired at the only mirror in front of him, an angled mirror that was placed in front of him that was angled to bounce the attack from one mirror to another. Bouncing from one mirror from another was death.

And when the mirrors moved with conjunction with one another to direct the attack it became even better. He sent the final mirror that was left in front of him to help redirect it as well. They would cease functioning after bouncing the condensed ray of mana and sunlight after enough time. They only had seconds to work actually, but that wasn't an impediment since a quick chant would create another.

Two had already died. The attack was far too unexpected for them to counter, so naturally the one furthest back was the only one to live. It was doubtful that any change in the attack pattern from the mirrors would catch him off guard.

Assassins Noble Phantasm created multiple flaws across each body. Considering the Noble Phantasm came from a defect with his mental faculties that targeted his behavior, it was more than likely that the reckless ones were killed.

Archimedes began levitating once again, putting his arms in a vaguely spread eagle position. He would have attacked the violent madman that barged into a young man's house but the Servant had decided to run. Taking the intelligent route this time and jumping through the window, neatly avoiding both Archimedes charge and the deadly light being redirected by the mirrors.

"Escape hm?" It would be difficult for any Servant to catch the runaway. Which is why he didn't.

Redirecting the mirror that was furthest away to make it fire at the window pane that used to be there he struck gold. A scream of pain had heralded that his luck and quick thinking had prevailed.

Floating towards the window he looked down and saw that Assassin had one less leg to stand on. He floated down towards the Assassin at a casual pace. Stoicism greeted him as he closed in for the kill, no screams of anguish, only hands desperately crawling into the stone path leading towards the Makiri estate.

As a cog rose above his head no retaliatory strikes came from the downed man. The cog fell and completely destroyed his heart and melted the stone underneath.

"What an undignified end. I feel a little remorseful, but this is a War I suppose." He breathed in the air and barked out a quick laugh. "What is a scholar doing in war? Honestly..." As the dead Servant faded into motes of golden light he returned to the estate.

Not a single shard of glass remained. To an onlooker it would appear as if the windowpane had completely vanished instead of being broken. They would have all believed the deep pockmarks in the stone path to manor to be old wounds instead of something that happened that night on the Matou estate.

Those pockmarks would only be warm for a little while longer.


	8. False Ending

*Sigh*

I can't believe I sucked so hard.

I'm updating to tell you all to not hold your breath. I havent written a single word for the next chapter. And I'm rediculously dissapointed in A2's stats. I've just screwed that up somehow. I certainly need to expand on Wretched Weaponry.

I'm just writing to tell you that I'm not going to be updating for a long while.

I have written anotger fanfic however. Not releasing it when I only have one chapter like I have this fanfic. It's a Bleach one if you care to read it.

 _That_ _too_ will undergo a hiatus at somepoint since I've yet to finish Fake Karuka.

I just really hope I don't end up like fairy tail dragon slayer. A great author but he never _FINISHES ANYTHING!_ He has too many ideas and is trying to pursue them all at once.

Great author, bad work ethic.

In short I've got to work on fixing the holes in my knowledge and satisfying the both of us. Which is how I know you felt a pulse of dissapointment when you figured out what this latest "chapter" was.

Since I didn't make it clear anywhere I'm not gonna be mad if you take any of my stories and run with them. Just point to the original and I'm good with that.

And finally, this story will change. Hell, the only thing that might be the even slightly familiar is the introduction.

Maybe even Archimedes won't be there.

I'd feel much more comfertable if I had a year to tweak everything in the story. Wheather I'll take that long or not I don't know. Don't think so. I'm more likely to overshoot that.

Then again, ever since I've started writing I have felt a sense of pressure/satisfaction. Which is a good thing. I don't often move unless something or someone pushes me into it. So having all of you around might end my nonexistent work ethic. Doubt it, but it'd feel really good.

I've already sort of trodden the fairy tail road. I've got about twenty ideas and only one story actually published. Pretty stupid and even I know it. And I'm not the brightest bulb in my family.

BTW: They fucked up Archimedes in the wiki. And I got freaked out because of it. I got my information from EXTELLA and checked the wiki halfway through the story. Tech. Understanding? Gone, and I can't understand why. He also has a completely unknown Noble Phantasm. So even though he's my favourite character to listen to and play _as_ , I'm a little crippled. At least I feel that way. Whether its true or not is something else entirely. **_ALSO,_** they've got a sequal to Fate/EXTELLA in the works. Got a trailer and everything.

That's about it. The only thing I'm good for now is my favourite stories and followed stories. Browse through them and make yourself comfertable.

The only reason this is riddled with spelling mistakes is because I haven't put any of this through Wordpress.


	9. Godamnit

To all readers.

I am sorry.

I have kept you waiting for a year and have nothing to show for it, nothing but a completely different story that has no traces of either Nier or Fate in them.

Am I going to continue this story? Probably.

Is it worth wairing for about two years? No.

Probably 4 years or more if I'm honest.

I haven't even rewritten the previous chapters! I haven't even wrote another word about this story and I haven't even adjusted the stats like I said I would.

Quite frankly I'm surprised I got new readers despite me sleeping on the job.

18k words versus 86k.

I suppose I should advertise my new Bleach story despite you all feeling bummed out that the story you actually came for is no longer being written. Which is 86k words as it is right now.

Hell, I doubt I'll actually continue it in two, or even four years.

So I'll go ahead and say that I've discontinued the story.

Have I stopped writing for Fate? Not really, but it's not my passion as you can clearly feel.

I'll write crossovers of Fate and Odin Sphere before continuing this though.

If you're still reading then I suppose I'll say my writing got much better in my Bleach Story: Strangle To Death, Anaconda! Just give it five chapters or so.

I'm sorry.

Maybe I will continue this years down the line. Maybe.

If you want to take over the story then go ahead. A mention in the summary or the authors note would be nice.

Just do it better than I did. 18k words in about 9 chapters with all those errors was embarrassing.

Sorry to all my readers and reviewers. Especially you grammer man. Mind if I ask you to check that on my other story? No one reading it has brought spelling mistakes or such up yet, but I know there are some. Would you mind that daimahou?

It'd be great if the rest of you see it as well. Cuz...well I'm clearly not writing for this anymore, not soon enough to be worth it however.

Sorry.

It's the second damn time I've put this kinda crap out.

Nero Claudius is the best BTW.


End file.
